System and method for providing user-selected information to a paging-capable device

ABSTRACT

A system and method for providing user-selected information to a paging-capable device. An enhanced paging system responsive to information sources and a selection device transmits information to a paging-capable device. The enhanced paging system comprises a storing means, a selecting means, a storage device, and a transmitter. Such a system can provide user-selected information to a paging-capable device, allowing the user to control what information will be sent and when the information will be sent. Intelligent-agent software can automatically search for and store information that would be of interest to the user and can alert the user that more detailed information is available. It can also send critical information to the user without user request.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/930,623, filed Aug. 30, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,046,120 which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/409,915, filed Apr.8, 2003 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,998,959), which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/293,588, filed Apr. 16, 1999 (nowabandoned), which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.08/892,925, filed Jul. 15, 1997 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,936,547), each ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to telecommunication servicesusing a public telephone system and more specifically to enhancedservices for a paging-capable device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Paging-capable devices are used to provide a user with a wide range ofinformation. As used herein, a “paging-capable device” refers to adevice that can receive information which is broadcast from a pagingsystem. “Paging-capable devices” include, but are not limited to, pagersand portable computing devices (such as personal data assistants,calculators, electronic notebooks, calendars/electronic schedulers, andelectronic information managers) that can receive information from aninformation source via standard page transmissions. When thepaging-capable device receives information, it alerts the user in a wayto get his attention. For example, a paging-capable device can emit anaudible tone (e.g., a beeping sound) or can vibrate against the user'sbody.

The most common form of information is telephone paging codes sentthrough a phone network. An information sender (e.g., another person)typically enters his telephone number on a touch-tone keypad of atelephone. The user's paging-capable device (typically a pager)automatically receives the paging codes when they are sent by the otherperson and alerts the user to the incoming information. In this way, theuser automatically receives information that is individually broadcastto him.

Additionally, the user can receive information that is broadcast to agroup of subscribers. For example, a user can subscribe to a service inan information source (such as a news service on the Internet) whichprovides a particular type of information to a subscriber'spaging-capable device. As with paging codes, the paging-capable devicereceives the information when the information source chooses to send it.When the information is received from the information source, thepaging-capable device alerts the user.

Because the user has no control over when the information source sendsinformation, incoming-information alerts can disturb the user atinconvenient times. Beyond merely annoying a user, frequent alerts candisrupt important meetings and generally lower productivity. Thisproblem is aggravated by the increase in the number of informationsources available (on the Internet, for example) and in the volume ofavailable information from the sources. To avoid this problem, someusers disable their paging-capable devices. While disabling the deviceprevents an alert, it also prevents important information, which may notbe later retrievable, from reaching the user.

In addition to not having control over when information is received bythe paging-capable device, the user typically has no control over whatparticular information is sent. Although a user can select a particularinformation source from which to receive information, he typicallycannot select the particular information the source sends. Without thiscontrol, the user must spend time browsing through the entire set ofinformation broadcast from the source until he finds the information ofinterest. Additionally, with multiple information sources, the volume ofinformation automatically sent to the paging-capable device may exceedthe memory capacity of the device, preventing additional, possibly moreimportant, information from being received.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,555,446 and 4,812,843 disclose systems in which usershave limited control over what information is sent and when it is sent.The system of the '446 patent allows a user to transmit an informationrequest to a base station by entering a predetermined code via switcheson a paging device. In that system, the paging device used to send therequest is the same device that receives the requested information. Ifthe user cannot remember or does not know the predetermined code for theinformation he desires to receive, he will not be able to request theinformation.

With the system of the '843 patent, a phone or a computer is used toenter predetermined codes to request information. As with the system ofthe '446 patent, if the user forgets the codes or does not have a listof codes nearby, he will not be able to make his request. In thatsystem, before the user receives the requested information, theinformation is filtered by a third party—a human operator interprets theinformation and determines what information will be accessible to theuser. In the systems of both the '446 and '843 patents, the informationthat the user can request is information that is addressed to and/oraccessible by more than one user

There is a need, therefore, to provide a system and method forpaging-capable devices that overcome the problems described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a paging-capable device of a preferredembodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an enhanced paging system of a firstpreferred embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an enhanced paging system of a thirdpreferred embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method of a fourth preferred embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an alternate method of the fourth preferredembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Advantages

The preferred embodiments described below provide the user with controlover when information is sent to his paging-capable device. With suchcontrol, the user can avoid being disturbed by incoming-informationalerts at inconvenient times without having to disable hispaging-capable device.

The preferred embodiments also provide the user with control over whatparticular information is sent to his paging-capable device. Byreceiving only desired information, the user avoids having to spend timebrowsing through an entire set of transmitted information. With thiscontrol, the user avoids exceeding the memory capacity of hispaging-capable device, ensuring that important information sent to thedevice can be received.

First Preferred Embodiment

FIG. 2 illustrates a first preferred embodiment for providinguser-selected information to a paging-capable device. There, an enhancedpaging system 200 is responsive to information sources 210 and aselection device 220 and can transmit information to a paging-capabledevice 230, such as a pager 100 (FIG. 1). As used herein, “responsiveto” can mean directly responsive to or indirectly responsive through oneor more components.

The enhanced paging system 200 comprises a storing means 240, selectingmeans 250, a storage device 260, and a transmitter 270. The storingmeans 240 is coupled to the storage device 260 and is responsive to theinformation sources 210. As used herein, the term “coupled to” can meandirectly coupled to or indirectly coupled through one or morecomponents. The selecting means 250 is coupled to the transmitter 270(which can transmit information to the paging-capable device 230) andthe storage device 260 and is responsive to a selection device 220,which can be different from the paging-capable device 230. Theabove-listed components can be used to provide a user with control overwhat information will be sent to his paging-capable device and when itwill be received, as described below.

Storing means 240 automatically stores in the storage device 260information that is continuously sent to it by the information sources210. The storing means 240 can also index the information and format itfor storage in the storage device 260. Unlike in some of the systems ofthe prior art, the storing means 240 does not filter the content of theinformation before it stores it. An information source can be atelephone network, through which, for example, a person transmitsinformation such as paging codes or voice mail. An information sourcecan also be a computer network (such as the Internet), through whichdata is transmitted. For example, the storing means 240 can receivee-mail and news headlines and summaries from user-subscribed services onthe Internet and store them in the storage device 260. As can be seen bythese examples, the information stored in the storage device 260 can beinformation typically addressed to and/or accessible by only one user(e.g., e-mail, paging codes, and voice mail) or can be informationtypically addressed to and/or accessible by a plurality of users (e.g.,news headlines).

Using the selection device 220, the user selects at least a portion ofthe automatically-stored information to be sent to his paging-capabledevice 230. The selection can be based on content, time the informationwas received, the source of the information, or any other restriction.The selecting means 250 retrieves the selected information from thestorage device 260, formats it for transmission, and sends it to thepaging-capable device 230 via the transmitter 270. With such a system,the user, not the information source, controls what information thepaging-capable device 230 receives and when the information will bereceived, thereby providing a solution to the problems described in theBackground section above.

Second Preferred Embodiment

In a second preferred embodiment, instead of merely acceptinginformation sent to it by the information sources 210, the storing means240 comprises intelligent-agent software that seeks out specificinformation in the information sources 210 and automatically stores itin the storage device 260. For example, if the user generally instructsthe intelligent agent software that he is looking for a particular usedcar, the intelligent-agent software can search Web pages on the Internetfor used-car dealers and private sellers to obtain information such as aseller's location, selling price, and mileage of a car offered for sale.

In addition to being instructed by a user, the intelligent agentsoftware can automatically seek out information based on inferences fromthe user's past conduct. For example, if the user frequently purchasesbooks by a particular author, the intelligent agent software can seekout and store information regarding that author's upcoming releases.Once this information is stored in the storage device 260, the user canselect it for transmission to his paging-capable device 230, asdescribed above. In this way, intelligent agent software presents theuser with a time-saving alternative to browsing the growing number ofinformation sources for information of interest.

Intelligent-agent software can also be used to send critical informationto the user in real time and automatically store non-criticalinformation in the storage device 260. When information is received fromthe information sources 210, the intelligent-agent software in thestoring means 240 and/or selecting means 250 determines whether theinformation is critical. If the information is critical, theintelligent-agent software transmits the information without userrequest to the paging-capable device 230 via the transmitter 270. If theinformation is not critical, the intelligent-agent software stores theinformation in the storage device 260 as before. In this way, the userwill only be disturbed by an alert signal if the information iscritical.

For example, based on a user's instruction, the intelligent agentsoftware knows that the user is expecting an e-mail or a telephone pagefrom a particular person. Using the e-mail address of received messagesor the phone numbers associated with incoming paging codes along with acaller-identification service, the intelligent-agent software candetermine who is sending the information, and hence, whether toimmediately send the information to the user without his request. Theintelligent agent software also can infer from the user's past conductto make a determination of whether information is critical For example,the software can transmit the paging codes of a person whose messagesthe user regularly returns upon receipt of that information, rather thanstore the information for later retrieval.

Additionally, intelligent-agent software can alert the user that moredetailed information is available from the information sources 210 bytransmitting a message to the paging-capable device 230. For example, ifthe intelligent-agent software provides the user with the latest priceof a company's stock, it can alert the user that more information aboutthat company is available. The software can also alert the user of thisinformation when he is using the selection device 220.

Third Preferred Embodiment

FIG. 3 illustrates a third preferred embodiment in which a plurality ofpaging-capable devices 332, 334, 336 are present. In this integratedinformation environment, the user can designate a particularpaging-capable device to receive certain information. For example, ifthe user has a pager and a paging-capable personal data assistant, theuser can choose to send all paging codes received in the last hour tothe pager and can choose to send all received e-mail to the personaldata assistant.

Fourth Preferred Embodiment

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method of a fourth preferred embodiment forproviding user-selected information to a paging-capable device. As shownin FIG. 4, the method of the fourth preferred embodiment comprises thesteps of automatically storing information in a storage device (step410), selecting at least a portion of the information automaticallystored in the storage device to be sent to a paging-capable device, theselecting being made from a selection device (step 420), andtransmitting the selected-information to the paging-capable device (step430). The selection device can be any device including a paging-capabledevice, which may or may not be the device receiving the requestedinformation. Intelligent-agent software can be used to seek outinformation, per a user's request or by inferring from the user's pastconduct, for storage in step 410.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an alternative method for providinguser-selected information to a paging-capable device. There, informationis received from an information source (step 510). Intelligent-agentsoftware determines whether the information received in step 510 iscritical, such as by using a caller-identification service, the user'spast conduct, or a user's instruction (step 520). If the information iscritical, it is transmitted to the paging-capable device without userrequest (step 530). The other steps of this alternative method are asdescribed above.

Each of the above methods can comprise the additional step oftransmitting a message to the paging-capable device indicating thatadditional information, which is recognized by intelligent-agentsoftware, can be downloaded from an information source. Each method canalso comprise the step of selecting a particular paging-capable deviceto receive the selected information and the step of facilitating userselection of information, for example, by listing the contents of theinformation stored in the storage device 260 or by listing selectionoptions. As described below, an interactive voice response (IVR) systemcan be used to accomplish such facilitating.

For each of the preferred embodiments described above, “informationsources” includes, but is not limited to, phone networks and computernetworks, such as the Internet. “Information” includes, but is notlimited to, information which can be addressed to a group of users(e.g., sports information, weather information business reports, andnews summaries) and, unlike the information in the '446 and '843patents, information typically addressed to and/or accessible by onlyone user (e.g., e-mail, paging codes, and voice mail)

The storage device 260 can be a hard drive in which information isstored in a database, and the selection device 220 can be any devicewhich allows a user to select at least a portion of information storedin the storage device 260. Such selection devices include, but are notlimited to, telephones, computers, and paging-capable devices.

As mentioned above, the selecting means 250 can comprise a system forpresenting the user with selection choices regarding the information hewishes to receive, thereby facilitating user selection of information.For example, an interactive voice response (IVR) interface can be used.The IVR interface presents a series of menus to the user, allowing himto make a selection. In this way, the IVR interface facilitates theselection and retrieval of information since the user need not memorizea predetermined key combination to select a particular category ofinformation, as in the systems of the prior art. For example, the IVRinterface can list all categories of information stored in the storagedevice. Using a series of menus, the user can select to receive, forexample, all stored information, specific categories of information(e.g., all telephone pages and all business articles from a particularWeb site), or a subset of the categories (e.g., all telephone pages fromfamily members and all business articles that were posted on a Web siteafter the close of the market). Additional restrictions (based on, forexample the time the information was received and the source of thereceived information) can be applied as well.

A menu-based system similar to that of the IVR interface can beimplemented on a selecting means 250 comprising a computer-networkinterface wherein the selection device 220 comprises a computer. Themenu-based system would, like the IVR interface, present the user withselection choices regarding the information he wishes to receive. Forexample, a Web page on the Internet can provide a user with a listing ofthe contents of the storage device 260. Using his computer, the user canselect the information listed on the Web page. With both systems, theuser does not have to worry about remembering a predetermined code torequest information, as in the prior art systems. With these preferredembodiments, the user is guided through his selection with a series ofinteractive prompts.

The storing means 240 and selecting means 250 can comprise amicroprocessor implementing a software application or a devotedhardwired component. While the storing means 240 and selecting means 250are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 as two separate components, it is importantto note that they may be combined in one unit.

Although selecting means 250 and the paging capable devices are shown asseparate components in FIGS. 2 and 3, the selection device 220, asmentioned above, can be the same as or different from the paging-capabledevices selected to receive information.

Any means can be used to couple the information sources 210 to thestoring means 240 as well as to couple the selection device 220 to theselecting means 250. For example, the components can be coupled througha telephone network, a computer network, or radio or infrared links.Means for transmission from the transmitter 270 to the paging-capabledevice 230 is well known in the art.

It is intended that the foregoing detailed description be understood asan illustration of selected forms that the invention can take and not asa definition of the invention. It is only the following claims,including all equivalents, which are intended to define the scope ofthis invention.

1. A method of providing information to a wireless device, the methodcomprising: receiving information from an information source;facilitating a selection of at least a portion of the information fortransmission to the wireless device by a system other than the wirelessdevice; when the information is determined to be non-critical,transmitting a selected portion of the information to the wirelessdevice over a wireless channel after receiving a selection of theselected portion of the information; and when the information isdetermined to be critical, transmitting the information to the wirelessdevice over the wireless channel without receiving a selection ofinformation by the system wherein the system and the device are not in asingle housing.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selection of atleast a portion of the information is based on at least one of content,time, and a source of the information.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising formatting the selected portion of the information to produceformatted information and transmitting the formatted information to thedevice over the wireless channel.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising receiving source information from an external informationsource and using intelligent agent software to generate the informationbased on the source information.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein theintelligent agent software is instructed by a user to search for aparticular information category.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein theintelligent agent software automatically seeks out information based oninferences from past conduct associated with a user.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein transmitting the information to the wireless deviceover the wireless channel without receiving a selection of informationby the system comprises transmitting the information in real-time afterreceiving the information.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein theinformation is identified as critical information based on a source ofthe information.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the information isidentified as critical information based on an inference related to pastconduct associated with a user.
 10. A method of providing information toa wireless device, the method comprising: receiving source information;using intelligent agent software to generate information derived fromthe source information; determining if the information is critical; whenthe information is non-critical, storing the information until receivinga selection from a selection device indicating a selected portion of theinformation to be sent over a wireless channel to the wireless device;and when the information is critical, transmitting at least a portion ofthe information to the wireless device over the wireless channel withoutreceiving a selection from the selection device, wherein the selectiondevice and the wireless device are not in a single housing.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the selected portion is a summary andwherein the selected portion provides an indication that furtherinformation associated with the selected portion is available.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the summary is a price quote of a stock of acompany and wherein the further information is additional informationassociated with the company.
 13. A method of managing delivery ofinformation, the method comprising: receiving source information from aninformation source; automatically storing information derived from thesource information into a storage device; receiving a designation of aselected device to receive the information; determining whether theinformation is critical; when the information is critical, transmittingthe information to the selected device in real-time; when theinformation is non-critical, transmitting at least a portion of theinformation to the selected device in response to receiving a selectionof the portion of the information from a selection system, wherein theselection system and the selected device are not in a single housing.14. The method of claim 13, wherein the selected portion is electronicmail and the selected device is a personal digital assistant.
 15. Themethod of claim 13, further comprising receiving a second selectionindicating a second selected portion and receiving a second designationof a second selected device and transmitting the second selected portionto the second selected device.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein thesecond selected device is a pager and wherein the system is a computeraccess to a web page.
 17. The method of claim 13, wherein the selectedportion comprises a mobile alert.
 18. The method of claim 13, whereinthe designation is received from a system different than the selecteddevice to receive the information.
 19. The method of claim 18, whereinthe system is a computer displaying a web page.
 20. The method of claim18, wherein the system is an interactive voice response system.
 21. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the selected portion is a summary andfurther comprising transmitting a second portion of the storedinformation, the second portion associated with the selected portion.22. The method of claim 13, wherein the designation of the selecteddevice further identifies a selected time to transmit the information tothe selected device.
 23. An information storage and communication systemcomprising: a storage device to receive information from an informationsource; a selecting device to receive a selection from a systemindicating a selected portion of the information to be sent over awireless channel to a wireless device; and a transmitter to communicatethe selected portion to the wireless device over the wireless channelafter receiving the selection when the information is determined to benon-critical, wherein the transmitter is to communicate the informationto the wireless device over the wireless channel without receiving theselection when the information is determined to be critical, wherein theselecting device and the wireless device are not in a single housing.24. The method of claim 10, wherein the intelligent agent software isconfigured to determine whether the information is critical based on asource of the information.
 25. The method of claim 10, wherein theintelligent agent software is configured to determine whether theinformation is critical based on an inference related to past conductassociated with a user.
 26. An information storage and communicationsystem to manage delivery of user-selected information, the systemcomprising: a storage device to store information derived from aninformation source; a computer network interface responsive to thestorage device, the computer network interface to receive a designationof a selected device from a remote computer system other than theselected device, and to determine whether the information is critical;and a wireless transmitter responsive to the computer network interfaceto transmit non-critical information to the selected device in responseto receiving a user selection from the remote computer system of thenon-critical information, and to transmit critical information to theselected device without receiving a user selection from the remotecomputer system of the critical information, wherein the remote computersystem and the selected device are not in the same housing.